[smee57]

This is such a precious TR!! The photos of your family are absolutely the best. Your kids look like they are having so much fun and they are just beautiful and handsome all dressed up!

[Princess D]

Originally Posted by packerbeth

I can be a bit wordy. Here is what you should do if you want to make some shirts: check the disboards "Creative Dis-igns" thread for designs you like; post to the thread, asking for the names you want; when they design it for you, save it on your computer and then you can print them out on t-shirt transfer paper and iron them on!

I didn't do any of my shirt designs; I found most of them on the disboards thread.

Thanks!! You make it sound really easy.
I do plan on going back and reading your report and I like it when they are detailed (Wordy)!!

[mickeysgirlz]

OH the P&PP Pictures are so fab!!

What a great time you had!! And still more to come . . .

[Caseys Corner]

What great picks and family memories.

[packerbeth]

Originally Posted by smee57

This is such a precious TR!! The photos of your family are absolutely the best. Your kids look like they are having so much fun and they are just beautiful and handsome all dressed up!

I'm glad you're enjoying it; Disney World really is my family's happy place!

Originally Posted by Princess D

Thanks!! You make it sound really easy.
I do plan on going back and reading your report and I like it when they are detailed (Wordy)!!

It is easy! If you decide to do it and have questions, just let me know!

Originally Posted by mickeysgirlz

OH the P&PP Pictures are so fab!!

What a great time you had!! And still more to come . . .

Lots and lots more to come!

Originally Posted by Caseys Corner

What great picks and family memories.

Definitely! Thanks for reading.

[packerbeth]

After our time with Princesses Minnie and Daisy, we headed back to Fantasyland. The girls wanted to ride Peter Pan again, and since Fantastyland was still hopping, the posted wait time said 20 minutes. I knew Christian and I would have time to hop on it's a small world while Rick took the girls on a flight over London, so we planned to meet back up right outside iasw when we were finished.

There weren't very many people riding at this hour, so Christian and I headed down the exit ramp without passing anyone. We got right onto our own boat and were off to experience one of my very favorite rides. Since Christian and I were alone, and the only boat nearby was way ahead of us, I took the opportunity to take some flash photos. I used the same reasoning as I had for our trip through the Hundred Acre Wood: there wasn't anyone around to bother, so why not? I love this ride, and can never get good shots without a flash, so I went to town on flash photos! For those of you who don't enjoy this ride, you may want to skip this update.











































The scene with the hula girls and Tiki masks will always remind me of our time at the Polynesian!

I believe I shared this story in my last tr, but I think this is just so cool: Walt got his inspiration to build a theme park of his own while visiting Tivoli Gardens, in Denmark, which is the world's oldest amusement park. The last section of it's a small world, where they're all wearing the more pastel colors, is a recreation of Tivoli. I got that tidbit from The Complete Walt Disney World, by Julie and Mike Neal. Love that book. Lots of great pictures and all the behind-the-scenes info that I love so much!

Afterwards, Christian and I waited for the rest of our family for a very long time. I had really started to wonder where they were, but remembered not to move from our agreed meeting place. I could not believe Peter Pan had taken them this long! Well, it hadn't. They got out so quickly, they decided to take a boat ride around the world, as well.

Believe it or not, we had another hour or so before the party ended, and my gang was still going strong! Be sure to come back to find out how much we packed into that last hour...

[b1wife]

There has to be more! I want more!

[packerbeth]

Thanks for asking...here you go!

My last small world photo was taken at 10:54, and Christian and I probably waited for the rest of our group for another 15 minutes or so after that. This meant we only had about 45 minutes of party time left by the time they returned, and we still had a lot to do! We hadn't had a chance to ride Dumbo the other morning, since the line was way long after we got finished with our CRT breakfast. Even now, at 11:15 p.m., the wait was surprisingly long, but I wanted Rick to have a chance to ride it with his girls, so they hopped in line. Dumbo is not h/c accessible, so Christian and I got to watch and take some photos.






Next stop was Toon Town, again! Not sure why we didn't stay there after we visited with the Princesses. (Maybe because we wanted to see the last DAw/M show?) I took fewer and fewer notes as the trip went on...

Kate had never been in Minnie's house before, I don't think, and she could have spent the rest of the night here. She loved all the interactive things. Here she is in one of Minnie's chairs:




Kate just loved opening things and pushing buttons. Her favorite was the oven: she loved to see that cake rise and fall!

Rose and Grace had to get in on the act, as well. Here they are, taking it easy in Minnie's sunroom.




You can see that the girls only had a couple necklaces from the treat stops. We really didn't take much time for these. It always seemed like the lines were too long, and since they weren't handing out candy, my girls really weren't all that interested. They have a ton of those necklaces at home from the last party, anyway. How many plastic necklaces does one girl need?!?

We passed quickly through Mickey's house, because there isn't much to do except marvel at the mess in the kitchen and all of Mickey's suits in the closet. I love this next photo: still going strong at 11:37 p.m. Just call them the energizer bunnies!


It seems to me that if we were in TT, we should have hit Kate's rollercoaster one more time, but either it didn't occur to us, or it wasn't running anymore. It was getting late, after all! I know we went on the Teacups next, because I forgot to tell Rick that Kate does NOT like to spin fast and apparently he got an earful from her when he tried to spin too fast. Rose tells me that Grace and I rode together when they were finished, because both of us LOVE so spin the teacups as fast as possible! She had missed out on our teacup ride this morning when she had chosen to sleep in, so I was glad we got a chance to go on it together. I like to spin it really fast, and then put my head back and my arms out. It's so much fun!

We had a bit of a difference of opinion on what our last ride should be. Rose and Kate wanted Pooh, but Grace hadn't ridden Cindy's horse yet, so she really wanted to go on the Carousel. We didn't have time for both, so Rick went one way and I went another. We certainly wouldn't have any trouble finding each other after this ride, since the crowds were definitely clearing out by this time!

When Grace and I got to the carousel, she went to find Cindy's horse. You may recall that Rose got to ride it the other day, and Grace hadn't. Well, unfortunately, another girl got there before Grace did. She looked much too big to care that it was Cindy's horse, but I didn't think arm wrestling a 14 year old girl for a carousel horse would be a very good idea, so I suggested Grace choose another one. I was proud of her; at this late hour she was very tired, but she didn't throw a fit. She chose "Prince Philip's horse," instead, which is what the horse next to Cindy's horse is called, according to Grace. When the ride was over and the big girl went off to disappoint someone else's daughter, Grace finally got to ride Cindy's horse. Of course, the party was over, so she didn't get to go anywhere, but that was okay with her.


"Prince Philip's horse"


Finally!

The place was closing down, so it was time to head out. What a fun time we had! I honestly do not remember getting to the front of the park. We must have gotten there somehow, though, because here are the CMs that kindly and gently tell you to get out!


I don't know who those girls are; I didn't want to wait for them to move before I took the picture!

I just found a receipt for the special P & P Party pins. I thought we'd bought them in Toon Town, but my receipt says we got them at Town Square Exposition Hall. Maybe we asked at TT, and they said we could only get them at TSEH. I had my receipt in the wrong Passporter pocket, because the receipt said 5/3. It was just after midnight, so tecnically it was 5/3!

When we had arrived at the party almost eight hours ago , there were lots of people in front of the P & P Party displays, so we didn't stop to take pictures. We had our chance on the way out, and we took it!



12:20 a.m. and they're all still awake and smiling!

I don't remember the monorail ride back to the Poly; I don't remember getting them all into jammies and bed; don't even know if they brushed their teeth that night. All I know is that we all had such a wonderful time, and we wouldn't hesitate to attend another P & P Party!

I only filled in one of the lines of my Passporter pocket for this day, and it says, "The most magical moment today was taking Christian on it's a small world while the rest went on Peter Pan and iasw."

I really don't remember getting back to the Poly or going to bed, but you would think that after a night like this, we all would have slept in, right? Well, everyone else did, but I was awake at 7:30. (I only know this because I wrote it down in my Passporter ) Not one to try to go back to sleep, I had decided to get up when I realized that it was Saturday, which meant EMH at the Studios! I knew that my family would sleep most of the morning, and since we didn't have anything on the schedule until our 1:10 ADR at Coral Reef, I felt certain that I could get away with another solo trip to the parks!

I went a different way to the TTC this morning and took some pictures while I walked:


The quiet pool


I believe this is the Tahiti longhouse.


I would have loved to watch Wishes from here...


Space Mountain is mocking me because I haven't yet taken a spin...

I didn't wait very long for a bus, and when I got on, there were only a couple of other people going to the Studios this early! The gates were already open when I arrived, so I was able to breeze right through. There were some ducks wandering around the turnstiles, and one of the manager-types was instructing the CMs not to let them in without a resort ID!

I headed straight to ToT, since I had missed it the other day. It was really my only must-do this morning. At 8:15, the wait time was...


Unfortunately, my EMH bad luck that was in evidence when Space Mountain was down at MK EMH also held at the Studios this morning. The sign may have said 13 minutes, but it was more like 30. It seemed there was either a problem with one of the elevators, or they were only one was running, because the line was REALLY backed up. I did overhear something funny while I waited, though. There was a family nearby which must have had some members who were feeling a little nervous about riding ToT. I overhead the ever-compassionate mother say, "Let's go! It's just an elevator!"

Eventually, we made it to our drop sequence, and it may have been the fact that I used almost the entire extra magic hour in line at ToT, but it was a disappointment. It was only my third time riding, but my first two times were so much fun that I could not wiat to get back on that ride! Oh well. I'm looking forward to going on it with Rick in September!

I stopped at Starring Rolls next, to use a counter service credit for breakfast. Boy, was that place confusing! People coming in didn't know where to stand, so the line was wrapped all around that teeny little restaurant. I grabbed a chocolate croissant, an OJ, an apple and a water for later, and was out a little after 9:00. I stopped by the hat to purchase the it's a small world pin we'd seen the other day, and was heading out of the park by 9:15.

I left the Studios for the last time this trip and took the bus back to the TTC. Since I hadn't been there very long, I had the same driver as before. I think my family may have still been sleeping when I returned. We lounged around for the rest of the morning before heading off to Epcot for our last Disney afternoon.

Up next, Coral Reef!

[Goofy3230]

Oh Beth, you are a genius, I never thought to go to the parks w/out the family. I'm always the first one up and that would be such a treat!! I'm learning so much from your TR, lol!!

[packerbeth]

Originally Posted by Goofy3230

Oh Beth, you are a genius, I never thought to go to the parks w/out the family. I'm always the first one up and that would be such a treat!! I'm learning so much from your TR, lol!!

Go for it! I had a lot of fun, although in the back of my mind, I was always thinking about the family...

[Prezcatz]

Originally Posted by packerbeth

Go for it! I had a lot of fun, although in the back of my mind, I was always thinking about the family...

Maybe once my kiddos get a little older I could make a "solo run" in the morning, but right now, I don't think I could get around & get out of the room without stirring one of the little ones (that and they are still in the mode of 'the sun is up, I should be too!').
Good on you for making it happen so the rest of us can keep our wishes intact and live vicariously through you!
Prezcatz Paul

[mickeysgirlz]

Originally Posted by packerbeth

I believe I shared this story in my last tr, but I think this is just so cool: Walt got his inspiration to build a theme park of his own while visiting Tivoli Gardens, in Denmark, which is the world's oldest amusement park. The last section of it's a small world, where they're all wearing the more pastel colors, is a recreation of Tivoli. I got that tidbit from The Complete Walt Disney World, by Julie and Mike Neal. Love that book. Lots of great pictures and all the behind-the-scenes info that I love so much!

I that book too it's awesome!!

Great photos! So much fun you get to go early by yourself to the parks and do the things you the most . . . I love being a morning person too!

[mickeysgirlz]

Originally Posted by packerbeth

Go for it! I had a lot of fun, although in the back of my mind, I was always thinking about the family...

Once a month I go out with a bunch of Mom's, you know to have a cocktail, relax . . . all we do it talk about the kids and family! What the heck, it's our life right?

[packerbeth]

Just in case you missed it when I posted it, I did an audio trip report on a podcast called "Be our guest." It aired on July 7, and you can find it here:

Be Our Guest WDW Podcast

Hope you like it! I had a lot of fun recording it!

[disney&byudad]

Originally Posted by packerbeth

Just in case you missed it when I posted it, I did an audio trip report on a podcast called "Be our guest." It aired on July 7, and you can find it here:

Be Our Guest WDW Podcast

Hope you like it! I had a lot of fun recording it!

Beth, I just listened to the podcast. You did an awesome job. Watch out Samantha Brown !

As you know, my DD, Leslie, was a DLR CM for 10 years (her DH still works at DLR). I don't believe either one got any training in working with disabled guests at DLR, but each have said that their most favorite part of working at the park was interacting with these folks. I think it's just their love for people and desire to make the Disney experience a magical one for everyone that sets these CMs apart. Kudos to Alice, the IASW CM and all others who took a special interest in Christian. Of course, his being such a good kid probably had a lot to do with it as well .

BTW, I am just enjoying the heck out of this TR and I am head over heels for little Kate. What a cutie!